Parties still divided on Land Acquisition Bill; to meet again on 18 April

An all-party meeting on the contentious Land Acquisition Bill today failed to find a convergence among diverse views and parties decided to meet again on 18 April to make another attempt at ironing out differences.

While parties were willing to support passage of a land acquisition bill, they were not together in what form it should take.

''We have some minor differences and have decided to meet again on April 18,'' parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said after the meeting.

He said the parties would be giving their final suggestions by 15 April and these would be circulated the following day before the next meeting, possibly by 18 April.

"There were two options. One was to send the bill to the standing committee. The other was to settle the issues in all-party meeting.... We will hold a day-long meeting on 18 April where government will bring its official amendments after studying the amendments suggested by various parties," leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj said after the meeting.

The BJP raised 12 points of concern, including the government's decision to delete the term SEZ and replace it with 'manufacturing zones' in the bill. "It is the same thing...," she said.

She said the term 'public purpose'' was given a ''very wide'' definition, which defeats the very purpose of the legislation.

"If the land is not utilised for the purpose for which it was leased, it could be returned to the farmer," Swaraj added.

With little progress on finalisation of the important legislation, it is unlikely that rural development minister Jairam Ramesh would succeed in getting the bill passed in the Budget session.

"There is a little progress. I hope that the bill will be passed in this session," the minister said.